The Presbyters Project

Epistula 32

Cyprianus presbyteris et diaconibus fratribus s[alutem] .

I,1. Quales litteras ad clerum Romae agentem fecerim quid que illi mihi rescripserint, quid etiam Moyses et Maximus presbyteri et Nicostratus et Rufinus diaconi et ceteri cum eis confessores in custodia constituti aeque ad litteras meas rescripserint ut scire possetis, fratres carissimi, exempla uobis legenda transmisi. Vos curate quantum potestis pro diligentia uestra ut et scripta nostra et illorum rescripta fratribus nostris innotescant.

2. Sed et si qui de peregrinis episcopi collegae mei uel presbyteri uel diacones praesentes fuerint uel superuenerint, haec omnia de uobis audiant. Et si exempla epistularum transcribere et ad suos perferre uoluerint, facultatem transcriptionis accipiant. [...]

(ed. Diercks 1994: 162-163

Letter 32

Cyprian to the presbyters and deacons, his brethren, greeting.

I,1. That you, my beloved brethren, might know what letters I have sent to the clergy acting at Rome, and what they have replied to me, and, moreover, what Moyses and Maximus, the presbyters, and Rufinus and Nicostratus, the deacons, and the rest of the confessors that with them are kept in prison, replied likewise to my letters, I have sent you copies to read. Do you take care, with as much diligence as you can, that what I have written, and what they have replied, be made known to our brethren.

2. And, moreover, if any bishops from foreign places, my colleagues, or presbyters, or deacons, should be present, or should arrive among you, let them hear all these matters from you; and if they wish to transcribe copies of the letters and to take them to their own people, let them have the opportunity of transcribing them. [...]

(trans. R.E. Wallis, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iv.iv.xxxi.html)

Discussion:

Cyprian refers to Letters 27 [1233], 28 [1234], 30 [1236], and 31 [1237].

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa
Rome

City

Carthage
Rome

About the source:

Author: Cyprian
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Cyprian was born probably about AD 200. He converted to Christianity in about 245 and in 248 was elected Bishop of Carthage. Soon after, the Decian persecution began (in 249/250) and Cyprian went into hiding. In 251 he returned to the city. Under Valerian, he was exiled in 257 and executed in 258. The epistolary of Cyprian consists of 81 letters (16 of them by his correspondents, and 6 synodal or collective), the majority of them are from the period of 250-251, when they were the means of Cyprian`s communication with his clergy. They offer us a wide view on the organization of the Church in Carthage in the middle of the third century, her relation with the Church of Rome, on the development of the persecutions, and on the conflicts that they caused inside the Church.

Different numerations of Cyprian's letters exist, I follow the edition of Diercks in Corpus Christianorum.

Edition:

G.F. Diercks ed., Sancti Cypriani Episcopi Epistularium. Epistulae 1-57, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 3B, Turnhout 1994.

Bibliography:

Categories:

Writing activity - Correspondence

Travel and change of residence

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Administration of justice - Imprisonment

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1238, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1238